Rated 5 out of 5 by Rick Rutledge from Features we most use are the SD-WAN and auto failover for dual ISP connections. Seem to work in harsh environments very well.Valuable Features:The features we see and use the most are the SD-WAN, auto failover for dual ISP connections, auto failover for our VPN connections and the bandwidth monitoring are the main features. Alerting and monitoring are the next feature we see as being very beneficial.Improvements to My Organization:As the only network admin in the company, I have to monitor nine remote sites (production and shipping facilities) and 12 remote VPN connections from various smaller facilities. Each location is a processing facility, which, when in season, runs 24 x 7 for the duration they are in production. During this time frame, not having a tech support person on site to fix problems is a huge cost savings for us. I see problems usually before they are large enough to need someone on site and with the cloud services I can remotely control ports, firewall connections and equipment on line. Meraki products are very solid and seem to work in harsh environments very well.Room for Improvement:I do wish you could control some ports locally from a console, but this is not the case. The only thing you can control locally is the uplink ports.Use of Solution:We have been using Meraki network switches and firewalls for 3.5 years and they work very well.Stability Issues:We haven’t had any stability problems. These MX-64, MX-84 and MX-100 devices are very durable and seems to work well in harsh environments. Our environment is fresh vegetable processing and shipping warehouses with coolers.Scalability Issues:We have not encountered and problems with scalability. We started with 1 Mx-64, migrated to MX-84, then straight up to 2x MX-100 in a high availability configuration. We started out with 100 devices and now we are 430 devices with dual Fiber WAN connections and it runs very smoothly. We currently just integrated a MS-425-32 port 10 GB network switch and it works very well.Technical Support:We have had no technical support problems that could not be resolved, between our Meraki rep and their tech support services. Being available 24 hours it’s very nice to have that kind of service and support.Previous Solutions:We used to be an HPE shop. I pulled out all that equipment, and installed Meraki switches and firewalls. It’s been so nice. I have visibility into the network, as well as remote links.Initial Setup:Like any new equipment or networking gear, it did take a bit of time to learn the in’s and out’s and limitations of the Meraki gear. It’s not the Cisco CLI console that I was used to, so it was different to learn.Cost and Licensing Advice:Well, you get what you pay for. If you want good products that work well and are easy to configure, as well as remote control, you have to weigh the pricing options. Is it worth the extra few bucks? I think so. Meraki comes with a limited lifetime warranty and they will replace the failed unit overnight if one fails.Other Solutions Considered:We tried several other firewalls, such as SonicWall NSA, Cisco ASA, pfSense, Juniper, and Untangled. We found the Meraki firewalls to be the best fit.Other Advice:Make sure you have your network planned out, mapped out and you can see exactly where you need the devices installed. Get a Meraki rep to assist you in the device selection and implementation. Also, try before you buy.Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

Date published: 2017-07-23

Rated 4 out of 5 by Jeff Khan from It's self managed and saves a bunch of time and effort.Valuable Features:AutoVPN features allow you extremely simple mesh or site to site IPSEC VPN tunnels with no configuration. It's self managed and saves a bunch of time and effort.Setup and configuration is cloud controller based so you just setup anything you need and don't actually have to configure the device other than to ship it to where it's going, and it configures itself with the settings you used without needing to hit the local LAN interface.Improvements to My Organization:Setup and configuration could not be quicker. Their support is also unlimited, you call, you get a person who knows what they're doing and they always solve the problem.Room for Improvement:There are a few things that are odd that I can do with other firewall products that I can't do with a Meraki. Such as - wanting to setup two firewalls in front of the same protected subnet. Since they 'act' like one when they are added, it won't let you setup the firwall in the traditional way where it's on the same LAN and has a proper public IP. When you attempt to save, because of their oversimplification of firewalls, it complains that you already have a firewall in front of that subnet. The only choice the leave you is to match the exact firewall and use their built in high availability. I don't want to do that in this case because I was intentionally terminating certain VPN tunnels on one, and other tunnels on the other. I could do this with an ASA, CheckPoint ( https://www.itcentralstation.com/vendors/check-point ), SonicWALL ( https://www.itcentralstation.com/products/dell-sonicwall-tz ), or Fortinet ( https://www.itcentralstation.com/vendors/fortinet ), but not here.Use of Solution:About 2 or 3 years and across 80 plus sites.Technical Support:Tech support is California based today. Good in most cases, but they have no power in true design change requests. Some things they don't have in the interface are only viewable by Meraki.Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

Date published: 2017-01-28

Rated 4 out of 5 by Jeff Khan from It's self managed and saves a bunch of time and effort.Valuable Features:AutoVPN features allow you extremely simple mesh or site to site IPSEC VPN tunnels with no configuration. It's self managed and saves a bunch of time and effort.Setup and configuration is cloud controller based so you just setup anything you need and don't actually have to configure the device other than to ship it to where it's going, and it configures itself with the settings you used without needing to hit the local LAN interface.Improvements to My Organization:Setup and configuration could not be quicker. Their support is also unlimited, you call, you get a person who knows what they're doing and they always solve the problem.Room for Improvement:There are a few things that are odd that I can do with other firewall products that I can't do with a Meraki. Such as - wanting to setup two firewalls in front of the same protected subnet. Since they 'act' like one when they are added, it won't let you setup the firwall in the traditional way where it's on the same LAN and has a proper public IP. When you attempt to save, because of their oversimplification of firewalls, it complains that you already have a firewall in front of that subnet. The only choice the leave you is to match the exact firewall and use their built in high availability. I don't want to do that in this case because I was intentionally terminating certain VPN tunnels on one, and other tunnels on the other. I could do this with an ASA, CheckPoint, SonicWALL, or Fortinet, but not here.Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

Date published: 2016-08-21

Rated 5 out of 5 by Josep Maria Reis from These firewalls are easy to configure and they provide site-to-site VPN's.Valuable Features:* Easy to configure* Provides site-to-site VPN's* VLAN's* DHCP* multiple WANsImprovements to My Organization:We are using it as a content filtering and load balancing application.Room for Improvement:They should improve load balancing.Deployment Issues:We had no issues with the deployment.Stability Issues:We have had issue with the load balancing.Scalability Issues:We have had no issues scaling.Technical Support:Meraki support is really good.Previous Solutions:We also use Meraki MR and Aerohive devices.Initial Setup:Meraki setup is really easy.Other Advice:Both Meraki and Aerohive are good products, and I prefer Meraki. I work with Meraki products in production. Meraki are more intuitive than Aerohive.Disclaimer: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: I'm a Meraki partner.

Date published: 2016-03-01

Rated 5 out of 5 by Bartosz Kowalski from I can have the firewall up and running and configured in one hour, but to scale, you need to buy the next model as there is no upgrade path.Valuable Features:* Easy deployment* Easy configuration* Great reportsI can have the firewall up and running and configured in one hour.Improvements to My Organization:* Automatic site to site VPN* Content caching* Automatic ISP failover* Easy to troubleshoot* Everything done true dashboard.Room for Improvement:I do not seeing any areas that need improvement.Use of Solution:I've used it for two years.Deployment Issues:Not at all.Stability Issues:Not at all just make sure you using a proper model for your environment, as you don't want to overload the firewall.Scalability Issues:If you are overloading the firewall, you need to buy the next model as there is no upgrade path.Customer Service:It's brilliant, 10/10 - you can open case online, or call them and you will be talking directly to the tech, who has access to your environment.Technical Support:10/10.Previous Solutions:I used Checkpoint, Cisco ASA, Palo Altos, Juniper. To configure the devices you need days, to spin up Meraki Firewall you need minutes.Initial Setup:It's very simple.Implementation Team:We did it in house, across five offices and the data center.ROI:It saves time on spinning up new offices, and on managing the firewall.Other Solutions Considered:Juniper switches.Other Advice:I will never go back to any other solution. Right now our corporate network, across the five offices and the data center, is 100% Meraki, Meraki Firewalls, Meraki Switches, and Meraki APs.Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.